


I Love You So I'll Let You Go

by RichardGraysonPercyJackson



Series: The Acrobat and The Mercenary [44]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Crying, Divorce, Domestic, Fluff, M/M, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 15:37:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18919960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RichardGraysonPercyJackson/pseuds/RichardGraysonPercyJackson
Summary: Slade's nightmares about killing Dick are getting worse.What does this mean for their marriage?





	I Love You So I'll Let You Go

Dick gasped, eyes wide as he clawed at the arm around his throat, kicking his legs where they dangled in the air.

“Slade,” he gasped as his lover slowly walked towards the edge of the rooftop. “Slade, please, don’t do this.”

“Do you really want me to tell your family that these were your last words?” Slade asked, tightening his grip on Dick’s throat, drawing a pained gurgle from the acrobat. “That you died begging and pleading a man who had spent three years of marriage lying to and deceiving you?”

“Slade,” Dick gargled. His nails had broken the skin on Slade’s arm, but the mercenary was undeterred. “Please.”

“I was going to tell your family that you died fighting,” Salde went no. “Fighting someone who wasn’t me, of course. Let them keep believing I loved you to the end.” he clicked his tongue. “I was even going to grant you mercy, snapping your neck to kill you before you hit the ground.”

Dick’s biggest fear was falling and dying. Slade was the only one he had told, trusting the man enough to know Slade would never turn that fear against him.

A tear dripped down his face.

“You always were so stupidly trusting, Grayson,” Slade snarled before throwing Dick off the roof. He watched the body fall, not even wincing when Dick hit every fire escape platform on the way down before finally landing on the concrete below with a loud smack.

Humming, Slade turned and walked away, examining his arm. Dick was out of his mind before he’d even left the roof.

  
  


……………

 

Slade woke with a choked gasp, covered in sweat. His heart was pounding beneath his chest as his eyes focused on the dull ceiling of his apartment. Letting out a long, slow breath, he ran a hand over his face and rolled onto his left.

Dick was sleeping peacefully, lying on his stomach with his head turned towards Slade and his arms folded underneath of his chest.

His back rose and fell in rhythm. He was breathing. He was alive.

He wasn’t dead.

Slade forced himself out of bed after another few minutes of watching Dick  _ live _ , stepping into the shower and letting the water wash over him as he let his mind wander.

This wasn’t the first time he’d dreamt about Dick dying. About Dick dying at  _ his  _ hands.

The first time had been when they’d well and truly met when Dick was thirteen. Slade had enjoyed that particular dream.

It was a little different when you dreamed of killing your husband.

Now though, the dreams seemed to be getting more frequent. What had once been every two months had now turned into every other night. Slade hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in three days and he  _ knew  _ Dick could tell.

The acrobat just hadn’t said anything yet.

Slade had no intention of telling him about the dreams, but even so, he couldn’t stop thinking about them.

What if they took control?

What if one day, he woke up with his hands around Dick’s throat and it was too late?

Slade was drawn out of his thoughts by the sound of the shower door opening and he turned around to watch Dick stumble into the shower with him, eyes barely open and still half asleep.

“What’re you doing?” Dick mumbled, squinting up at Slade while yawning and rubbing his eyes.

“Taking a shower,” Slade replied softly. “What are you doing?”

Dick hummed, walking over to wrap his arms around Slade, resting his head on the mercenary’s chest.

“Wondered where you were,” he replied sleepily. 

“You didn’t have to join me,” Slade murmured, placing his hand on Dick’s back, rubbing gently. “You should have gone back to sleep.”

“Worried you'd had another nightmare,” Dick replied. “Wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Slade frowned. Had he really been that transparent that Dick knew he was suffering from nightmares?

“I’m fine, little bird,” Slade told him.

“No you’re not,” Dick objected. “I know you’ve been having nightmares and I know they’re about me.”

“Oh?” Slade asked, genuinely curious. “And how do you know that?”

“The way you look at me,” Dick replied, looking up at Slade and finally waking up. “Like you want to make sure I’m still here.” he tilted his head. “You’re having nightmares about me dying.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because Bruce looked at me the same way you do,” Dick replied, much more awake now than he had been a moment before. “And he dreamed about killing me.”

Slade didn’t say anything for a moment. “We’re supposed to be enemies,” he said quietly. “I’m supposed to try and kill you with every chance I get.”

“But you don’t.”

“And yet I’ve been dreaming about killing you for weeks,” Slade snapped, grabbing Dick’s arms in a tight grip, missing the subtle wince the kid let out. “I  _ enjoy  _ it. When I wake up, I don’t know if I want you to be alive or not!”

Dick nodded slowly. “Okay,” he said softly.

Slade frowned. “Okay?” he repeated. He didn’t like the look in Dick’s eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Slade, I love you,” Dick whispered. “But if you don’t know if you want me alive or not…”

“Kid-”

Dick gave him a strained smile. “I’ll sleep in the guest room for the rest of the night,” he told Slade, extracting himself from the mercenary’s loose grip. “And I’ll call Bruce’s lawyer in the morning. Have him draw up the divorce papers.”

“Dick,” Slade whispered as Dick stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. “Don’t do this.”

“I love you,” Dick said with a smile before slipping out of the bathroom.


End file.
